Local TV Station Meterologists

[coriolis]

What are your thoughts about the meterologists on the local tv stations? At least around here they try to be comedians. Can the local affiliates afford anyone who is any good? Is this the backwaters of meterology? Do they have to have any qualifications? Do they actually forecast or do they just regurgitate forecasts by others?

[isobar]

I know what you mean, cori. I really don't watch them much. Out here in Evansville, since we are not a major metropolitan area (not even a minor one really), we have all young mets just getting started in their careers. One guy was fairly decent during the tornado outbreak, but basically it's just kinda fluffy.
And if I hear "Chip" say one more time, "Here's your First Alert Doppler-25 Forecast", I'm gonna ...

[JetMaxx]

In Atlanta, Chief Meteorologist Ken Cook at WAGA TV 5 is a consumate professional...I've known Ken since he was a forecaster with the NWS Atlanta office in 1974; and he's taught me so much about the weather over the past three decades....and a true hero of mine

Glenn Burns at WSB TV is a good guy; very personable and takes the severe weather threat seriously. Sometimes tends to cry wolf, but has improved a great deal during the past couple years. He's really impressed me this spring...is now becoming a comsumate pro in his own right. I've been critical of Glenn (forecasting) in the past, but never doubted his honor...his willingness to assist young people wanting to learn about weather, and become meteorologists will be his legacy. David Chandley is also very competent...and a pleasure to watch.

Paul Ossman at WXIA has also improved quite a bit the past few years...and has assembled a great weather team at 11 Alive (including Dr Greg Forbes during severe wx episodes).

Gene Norman at WGCL TV 46 continues to improve and impress me....the station just added an awesome new radar system. John Wetherbee is always a pleasure to watch....a very nice and personable man that knows his stuff regarding the weather.

Overall, the metro Atlanta area is served well -- and when the weather gets very dangerous (tornado potential)....the tv meteorologists in Atlanta are at their best...and make me extremely proud as a veteran Skywarn spotter...they save lives

Perry

[wx247]

Howdy everyone! I have the pleasure of being right in-between three markets and so I get to watch all three. 2 are small : Joplin and Fayetteville, while Springfield is a decent sized market.

My favs. are Brandon Beck from KYTV in Springfield, who is excellent IMHO, and Dave Pylant (who is not a met but has some experience) from KOAM-TV, in Joplin.

I have to say that during the year I lived in Sedalia I was spoiled with wonderful mets in the KC market: Bryan Buzzby, Mike Thompson, Katie Horner, and Gary Lezak. My favorite was Katie Horner from KCTV, but all were excellent.

[ColdFront77]

I also had the pleasure of living between Boston, MA and Providence, RI... here about 1 1/2 hours northwest of Orlando, FL... I am on the northern edge of the Orlando viewing area, so only get three, instead of six local news stations.

The Boston area meteorologists are excellent. A few of the Providence, Rhode Island are forecasters are amatuers. The long time WHDH-TV 7-Boston meteorologist Harvey Leonard got a new positoin at WCVB-TV 5 in the same city... becoming a co-chief meteologist there - it sounds like a new concept. He is known for forecasting the Blizzard of '78 very well.


I will be living in central Florida three years, a week and a half from now. Since I lived here, the Orlando meteorologists are very good. WFTV-TV 9 went through a lot of changes in the last several months. Chief meteorlolgists Glenn Richards was let go and Tom Terry became the new chief meteorologists of the station nearly a year after he began (last August)... coming from Orlando's WKMG-TV 6. Speaking of WKMG-TV 6, they also had some changes as well.

It was sad seeing WESH-TV 2 Orlando meteorologist Brad Nitz leave for a Jacksonville affiliate last year, he is now the chief meteorologist at one of the stations there.. I enjoyed watching his reports.


Perry, you didn't mention WXIA-TV's 11 (11 Alive's) Flip Spiceland; formerly of CNN. I liked him on CNN... not sure if CNN let him go or if it was his own choice... he left around the time everyone else was being let go from the Atlanta based cable news network.

[Rainband]

Our local mets here are very good..they joke around a bit but when the need to be serious arises they answer the call

[Southernmost Weather]

Weather is not considered to be a "serious" part of a television newscast for the most part. Having been in the broadcasting business for the better part of 25 years I think I can speak with some authority on this issue.
Most tv weather people are just that--people who look good and sound good. That's what the station's consultant recommends to management and they buy into it lock, stock and barrel. That's why you see the weatherperson doing these inane promos on inane topics not related to weather. Television news and weather is a personality driven thing. Do ratings sound familiar?
There are some tv weather people who are indeed mets, but they exist in the major television markets like LA, NY and Chicago. And while they are certified by AMS or NWA, that doesn't amount to a hill of beans. That certification is not all that difficult to obtain either--pay the fee and you are certified. I've worked with people who did TV weather parttime and the only thing they needed to do is be able to rewrite the forecast discussion into layman's terms and be able to work the computer generator to make the fronts move across the maps the correct way.
So, by and large, television weather people are a joke and that makes it all that more difficult to take them seriously when adverse weather strikes a particular locale.

[ColdFront77]

Harry, too bad this is the case. I would assume most of us would agree that many television meteorologists we see on our local television stations should be professional, rather than amatuer meteorologists.

I am glad I grew up in the sixth largest television market in the United States. I am not sure what Orlando ranks, but I don't believe it is to high (however all three network affiliates are low... channels 2, 6 and 9) It would make sense that if all three (or six) local stations in your area are below say, 20... then they are "higher on the Market Ranking List."

[Rainband]

Weather is not considered to be a "serious" part of a television newscast for the most part. Having been in the broadcasting business for the better part of 25 years I think I can speak with some authority on this issue.
Most tv weather people are just that--people who look good and sound good. That's what the station's consultant recommends to management and they buy into it lock, stock and barrel. That's why you see the weatherperson doing these inane promos on inane topics not related to weather. Television news and weather is a personality driven thing. Do ratings sound familiar?
There are some tv weather people who are indeed mets, but they exist in the major television markets like LA, NY and Chicago. And while they are certified by AMS or NWA, that doesn't amount to a hill of beans. That certification is not all that difficult to obtain either--pay the fee and you are certified. I've worked with people who did TV weather parttime and the only thing they needed to do is be able to rewrite the forecast discussion into layman's terms and be able to work the computer generator to make the fronts move across the maps the correct way.
So, by and large, television weather people are a joke and that makes it all that more difficult to take them seriously when adverse weather strikes a particular locale.

I guess I am lucky in my area because DICK FLETCHER is a very professional and deticated met!!!IMHO

[weatherlover427]

I have met this guy before:



He's on our local ABC station.

[coriolis]

Eye candy for the women.

[WidreMann]

Good ol' Greg Fishel here. He actually knows his stuff, but his humor is absolutely horrible. One time he was talking about the eclipse and he said if you couldn't go out and see it yourself, you could take some paper-clips and bend them into the shape of an E and then you would have "e-clips". Horrible, absolutely horrible.

The other mets are pretty bad. Gary McGrady - the less said about him the better. He looks serious, but he comes of as, well, I don't know what to say, maybe overwrought, or just plain stupid.

[weatherlover427]

I met Dallas when I was 11. The opportunity came about when I was mentioned in a local newspaper article and my mom sent it into Mr. Raines. He accepted the request, and I was on TV with him.

[coriolis]

Hey Joshua, sounds like I was making fun of your great experience. I take it that Dallas was/is a local TV metero. Well, I'm not fruity or anything, but he's photogenic, which is good for TV. I offer an apology if you feel one is needed. Can't keep my hand off that stupid "submit" button.

[ColdFront77]

I met a Boston meteorologist in early May 1993, during my freshman year in high school. I watched him prepare for the Noon Newscast and watched him deliver his report from a corner of the studio.

[streetsoldier]

Our local meteorologists are small-market (Cape Girardeau-Paducah), and seem capable enough for displaying Doppler on the blue screen, but I've found TWC better and more accurate than they are...which doesn't say much. And forget the "eye-candy" factor...I look better in person than these guys.

Our cable (Charter) does have an "Emergency Alert" system in place, though; no matter which channel we are watching, if "the Vigoro is about to hit the Mixmaster", all channels get blanked out briefly, and we are audibly directed to go to a single channel (11 here) set aside for developments.

[weatherwunder]

Our local news channel has Ken Sheimek, who has been at it for 15 years. He is excellent, and has just the right amount of humor. He is very serious about severe weather, and always comes into the station when it is going on. (has not had to do that yet this year.)

He has a new out of college guy, Tyson Pearsall, who is awesome for being new at it.

Overall, I am pleased with 'Weather People'.

[pojo]

Green Bay/ Appleton is a mid-major market. A matter of fact ... #70 on the Ratings Scale. Yes, a matter of fact, I am very leary of ratings...I used to work at one of the Green Bay news stations. Because there is one lady in the Market... Dana Tyler of NewsChannel 5 (CBS), looks aren't the ratings factor, its knowledge. Yes, I know looks are a big factor in the ratings decision, but its also the station spoon feeding the news to viewers. The main two channels are Action 2 News (ABC) and NewsChannel 5 (CBS) ...FOX 11 and NBC 26, have quality newscasts. NBC 26 usually pulls up the rear. I worked at NewsChannel 5 during my Freshman and Sophomore year of college and ironically visited NC5 during High School. The same particular met that I talked to, still works at NC5...so he and also the chief met taught me, and gave me a few lessons in forecasting and broadcasting the local weather.

Our local mets mainly compete between each other. It gets rather annoying at times! The Chief Mets at all 4 stations are quite knowledgeable on the weather front. All except one have 25+ years of Weather Broadcasting. The other has, I think, 15 years. There is one 'youngin' broadcasting the news...and he's on Action 2 News. (This fine lookin' young man used to be at NC5)

[coriolis]

LOL. It seems that every city has one station that is "Action News." Around here, the local news is Police, fire truck, and ambulance chasing. City council and other such stuff is after the sports, if there's time.

[pojo]

We have one station splits between newspaper headlines and fluff, two stations chase city emergency personnal, and the other is mainly fluff. (2 minutes of hard news...all the rest is fluff)

The top 2 in ratings follow the scanners, the other two are fluff headlines (bottom of the barrel stations)